Avalanche AHL prospects season review

By Courtney Wagner

May 31st, 2005

Marek Svatos

The AHL Hershey Bears finished the 2004-05 season39-37-2-2, missing the playoffs. Below is a player by player review of the11 Colorado Avalanche prospects who played for the team. In 2005-06,Colorado will send its AHL prospects to the Lowell Lock Monsters, an affiliationit will share with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Marek Svatos,RW – Height: 5’9, Weight: 187 lbs., DOB – 1982-06-17

Marek Svatos, a seventh-round pick in 2001, played his second season with theHershey Bears after playing four games for the Avalanche last season. In 2003-04with Colorado he had two goals in the regular season and in 11 playoff games he had one goal and sixpoints. At 5’9 and 187 lbs., Svatos is lacking in size, but is confident withthe puck. He is a creative playmaker with an accurate shot. In 72 games withHershey in 2004-05 he had 18 goals, 46 points and a +9 rating, which was secondbest on the team behind Johnny Boychuk.

ze=”2″ face=”Arial”>GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

72

18

28

46

69

+9

Peter Budaj, G– Height: 6’0, Weight: 200 lbs., DOB – 1982-09-18

Peter Budaj, the 63rd overall selection in the 2001 draft, improved hisnumbers in his third season with the Hershey Bears. In 46 games last season hehad a 2.80 goals against average, a .916 save percentage and three shutouts. Atechnically sound goaltender with a strong desire to win, Budaj plays strong inbig-game situations. In 59 games in 2004-05 Budaj had a 2.65 goals againstaverage, a .919 save percentage and five shutouts.

GP

Min

GA

SO

Avg.

W

L

T

SV%

59

3356

148

5

2.65

29

25

2

.919

Johnny Boychuk,D – Height: 6’2, Weight: 215 lbs., DOB – 1984-01-19

Johnny Boychuk, the 61st overall selection in the 2002 draft, played hisfirst season with Hershey in 2004-05. Last season with the Moose Jaw Warriors hehad 13 goals, 33 points and 71 penalty minutes in 62 games. Strong in front ofthe net and in the corners, Boychuk possesses a hard slap shot and is not afraidto play physical and dish out big hits. In 80 games this season he had threegoals, 15 points and his +13 rating was best on the team.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

80

3

12

15

69

+13

Cody McCormick,RW – Height: 6’2, Weight: 200 lbs., DOB – 1983-04-18

Cody McCormick, a fifth-round selection in 2001, missed part of his secondseason with Hershey due to a shoulder injury. He split his time in 2003-04 withHershey and the Avalanche. In 44 games in Colorado he had twogoals, five points and 73 penalty minutes, while in 32 games with Hershey he hadthree goals and nine points. A tough player with a feisty attitude, McCormick isa good skater who plays well in his own zone. In 2004-05 he had five goals, 11points and 68 penalty minutes in 40 games.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

40

5

6

11

68

-8

Ryan Steeves,C – Height: 6’0, Weight: 205 lbs., DOB – 1982-12-31

Ryan Steeves, a seventh-round selection in 2002, played in Hershey for thefirst time this season after playing four seasons of NCAA hockey at YaleUniversity. In 2003-04 he had 10 goals, 26 points and 44 penalty minutes whichwere good for second most on the team behind Joe Zappala. A gritty, physical player with good speed, Steeves iseffective around the net, in the corners and along the boards. In 75 games thisseason he had six goals, 11 points and a +1 rating.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

75

6

5

11

24

+1

Jeff Finger, D– Height: 6’2, Weight: 205 lbs., DOB – 1979-12-18

Jeff Finger, an eighth-round selection in the 1999 draft, played his secondseason with the Hershey Bears in 2004-05. In 63 games last season he had twogoals, 11 points and 88 penalty minutes. A physical, defensive defenseman,Finger possesses a strong shot. In 75 games this season he had four goals, 16points and was third on the team in penalty minutes with 125.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

75

4

12

16

125

-5

Agris Saviels,D – Height: 6’2, Weight: 200 lbs., DOB – 1982-01-15

Agris Saviels, the 63rd overall pick in 2000, played in his third season withHershey in 2004-05. In 67 games last season the Latvia native had two goals,seven points and 39 penalty minutes. A solid, consistent player who is strong onhis skates, Saviels has good puckhandling skills and skates well. In 47games with Hershey this season he went without a goal, had five assists and 41penalty minutes.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

47

0

5

5

41

-3

Tomas Slovak,D – Height: 6’1, Weight: 203 lbs., DOB – 1983-04-05

Tomas Slovak, a second-round pick by theNashville Predators in 2001, was traded to the Avalanche for Sergei Soin in Juneof 2003. In the 2003-04 season he went back and forth between Hershey and theECHL Reading Royals. In 20 games with Reading he had three goals and 10 points andwith Hershey he had three goals and 11 points in 42 games. Slovak has goodoffensive instincts and possesses a strong shot from the point. He wentscoreless in one game with Hershey in 2004-05 before returning to his nativeSlovakia where he had three goals, 14 points and 42 penalty minutes in 33 gameswith Kosice HC.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

1

0

0

0

2

0

Sergei Klyazmin,LW – Height: 6’4, Weight: 195 lbs., DOB – 1982-03-01

Sergei Klyazmin, a third-round selection in the2000 draft, played for three different teams this past season after not playingat all during 2003-04 because of a knee injury. He was strong offensively whileplaying with the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL, but has not played a fullseason since 2000-01. This past season he went scoreless in seven games withHershey, he had two points in five games with the Colorado Eagles of the CHL andhad two points with the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the ECHL.

Frantisek Skladany, a fifth-round selection inthe 2001 draft, split his time between two teams during the 2004-05 season. Lastseason he played his final year at Boston University with three goals and 24points in 37 games and joined Hershey for five games, recording no points. Amobile skater with good speed, Skladany has good skill with the puck and playswell around the net. He started the season in Hershey where he went scoreless in15 games and finished the year with the Quad City Mallards of the UHL where hehad nine goals, 20 points and 33 penalty minutes in 50 games.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

15

0

0

0

2

-2

Mikko Viitanen, D – Height: 6’3, Weight:220 lbs., DOB – 1982-02-18

Mikko Viitanen, a fifth-round selection in 2001,split his time the last two seasons between the Reading Royals of the ECHL andHershey. In 20 games with Hershey last season he had one goal, one assist and 14penalty minutes. He had four points with the Royals in 47 games. A stay-at-homedefenseman, Viitanen has good size at 6’3, 220 lbs. and makes intelligent playson the ice. In 52 games with Reading this season he had three goals, six pointsand 47 penalty minutes. In 22 games in Hershey he managed only one point and sixpenalty minutes.

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

22

0

1

1

6

-1

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